Homosexuality in Korea

As early as the 8th century, there was reference to homosexuality within the Korean royal family.

King Hyekong, the 36th king of the Shilla Dynasty (57 BC to AD 918) was ordained king in 765 at the age of 8. But 15 years later he was killed by subordinates who could not accept his abnormal "femininity."

This was according to Richard Harris in his book Faces of Korea, The Foreign Experience in the Land of the Morning Calm (Hollym International, 2004).

Harris also added that one of the earliest instances of early lesbianism in Korea dated back to the 15th century, when King Sejong (1397 - 1450) convened a meeting to discuss rumors that one of his daughters-in-law was sleeping with another woman.

"According to the Annals of the Chosun Dynasty, the daughter-in-law was expelled from the royal family, but under different pretexts," Harris wrote.

Coming back to the modern age, Harris noted that the largest "gay entertainment street in Korea" is in the foreign-dominated area of Itaewon (pictured) in Seoul. And that the first gay campus organization was said to be formed at Yonsei University in 1995.

The former observation came as no surprise. But the latter certainly did.